


Survey

by Ketoprofen



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:46:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24019978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ketoprofen/pseuds/Ketoprofen
Summary: Erwin Smith was an icon in the local restaurant scene. Together with his General Manager Hange Zoe and his Executive Chef Levi Ackerman, they turned the rundown, highly unprofitable restaurant 'Survey' into a powerhouse.Katherine Sloan (OC) has been having odd dreams since high school. Giant, man-eating monsters, old wooden and stone houses, the sensation of flying, and an intense relationship with some shadow man. When she gets hired on at Survey as the new Front of House Manager, it doesn't take her long to realize that all of the employees are also in her dreams - including Levi as the mysterious shadow man.Levi/Kat Reincarnation AU where everyone works in the restaurant industry.
Relationships: Levi & Reader, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Female Character(s), Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader, Levi/Reader
Comments: 29
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to anyone who's read my other Levi/Kat stories!
> 
> And welcome to anyone who hasn't! To those of you who are new, my OC is my Levi stories is always the same character: Kat. She's got different last names depending on the story, but otherwise she's the same person. I always tag my stories as both Levi/OC and Levi/Reader because I figure it's not too hard to sub in your name/appearances if you so desire.
> 
> I hope everyone's staying safe and staying home. And I hope you enjoy this story.

_"I have an interview tomorrow, just so you know," he said.  
"Want my help?" She asked. Assisting with interviews was a normal duty of hers.  
"No, it's really just a formality. I know I'm going to hire her," he said with a shake of his head.  
"Oh? How do you know that?"  
"It's Kat."  
" **Kat** Kat?" Her eyes were wide as a grin started spreading across her face.  
He just nodded in response, his own grin starting to appear._

****

Survey. A restaurant I had always admired but never had an opportunity to interview at. Their non-managerial staff turnover rate was very high, just like any restaurant, but their management seemed unnaturally loyal to the owner and no one ever left. I jumped at the chance to apply as soon as I saw their posting online looking for a Front of House manager. Not only did a management position finally open up, it was a position I was already working at my current restaurant, Sina.

It was early in the morning on Tuesday as I approached Survey. The restaurant wouldn't open until mid-afternoon, so the parking lot was empty except for my car. A tall blond man stood by the front door of the restaurant thumbing through a stack of papers.

I put on my most charming smile as I approached and said, "Good morning Mr. Smith."

Erwin Smith was an icon in the local restaurant scene. He had bought Survey from the previous owners and turned the rundown, highly unprofitable restaurant into a powerhouse. 

"Ah, Katherine, good morning," Erwin greeted in return and walked toward me with his hand outstretched.

I met him halfway and shook his hand. We exchanged small, polite pleasantries as he led me through the empty dining room toward the back where his office was located.

I had dined at Survey numerous times before, and the interior always reminded me of a castle with its exposed stone walls and natural wood decorations. It matched perfectly with their menu, which was focused on locally sourced products including wild game and produce. If it wasn't processed, hunted, fished, foraged, or grown within a 30-mile radius of the restaurant, they didn't use it. The only exception to this being the soft drink menu, but I had heard rumors that Erwin's General Manager, Hange Zoe, was working with a local craft soda supplier to get their prices down to something comparable to Coke or Pepsi.

The dining room, bar, and kitchen were all empty of employees. It would be a few more hours before the cooks started coming in to work on prep for the night's service. Erwin led me through the kitchen and I was amazed at how immaculately clean everything was. There were no grease stains, even around the deep fryers. The steel tables and appliances were so thoroughly polished that I could see my reflection in them as I walked past.

"Did you just recently get new equipment?" I asked. This kitchen looked like it had never been used.

Erwin grinned as he responded, "No, our executive chef is very serious about food safety and cleanliness. This is the restaurant's original kitchen."

I couldn't help but let out a low whistle. Survey opened almost 15 years ago. It was hard to imagine the nightly cleaning list for the cooks if the kitchen was this spotless after being in operation for so long. "I guess Chef Ackerman deserves his reputation."

"You know my chef?" Erwin asked with something in his voice - was it glee?

"Oh, no. His reputation precedes him," I answered. I was not going to mention the negative portions of his reputation. 

"Here we are," Erwin said as he opened a door leading to the cramped, filled-to-the-brim-with-paperwork shoebox closet that seemed to serve as an office in every restaurant. There was an old computer on the desk that was nearly being swallowed by piles of paper. A calendar on the wall was full of handwritten dates and reminders and requests for time off. Erwin sat in the chair by the computer, the old metal springs groaning under his weight, and motioned for me to sit in the other chair.

"Your resume is impressive," Erwin started as he looked at a piece of paper in his hand. "Started as a food runner and hostess at The Garrison, worked your way up to server and then Head Bartender while you went to school for hospitality management, moved to Sina as a server once you were done with school, and currently still work at Sina as their FOH manager." He listed off the past employment I had on my resume and I nodded along. "So what makes you want to work at Survey? Surely the pay is better at Sina."

I tried not to gush like a fangirl as I explained how I admired his transformation of the restaurant over the years. He managed to take a place that was a week away from shutting down and turn it into one of the most successful restaurants in the city. "I enjoy Sina, but I'm ready to move away from fine dining and explore other areas of the industry," was my final, diplomatic answer after I finished my flattery. I would never tell him that I hated Sina's customers - the ones who would spend $600 on dinner and then act like that entitled them to treat the staff like garbage. And Nile Dok, the spineless owner who let those customers treat his staff like garbage. And the atmosphere and culture in general. I had gotten to where I hated all of it.

Erwin leaned back in his squeaky chair and steepled his fingers over his chest. He watched me for a long moment before he asked me, "Do you get the feeling like we've met before?"

I wasn't really sure how to respond to that at first. I was pretty certain I would have remembered meeting him before. But then again, now that he mentioned it, I did feel a weird kind of dejavu. It felt like I'd done this numerous times before - sat across a desk from Erwin and had a discussion. But, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. "No… sir?" I finally answered hesitantly. All I could do was hope this wasn't some sort of weird test.

Erwin hummed and sat back up straight again, his chair groaning once more. "If you're available tonight, I'd like you to come back in for a working interview. I want to see how you interact with the staff and customers before I make my final decision."

I nodded in understanding. "I think that's a wonderful idea. I would love that."

He grinned and we spent the next few minutes working out the details. The kitchen staff would start rolling in around noon and the FOH staff would come in at 2pm to prepare for the doors to open at 3pm. I would come back at 1:30pm to meet the kitchen staff before my possibly-future-staff started showing up. 

It wasn't even 10am yet, so I went back home to relax and take a nap before I had to come back for my shift.


	2. Chapter 2

_"So how did it go?" Her voice came through the phone's speaker.  
He sighed. "Good news is I'm definitely hiring her. Bad news is she doesn't seem to remember anything."  
"Nothing at all?"  
"Not that I can tell."_

****

I was rudely awakened by my alarm two hours later. I've had this recurring dream for as long as I can remember, at least since my senior year of high school. The dreams consist of incredibly short non sequitur scenes that make no sense once I've woken up, but seem to fit perfectly together while I'm dreaming. Old villages and castles, forests, open plains with no houses in sight, night skies full of stars, enormous stone walls, grotesque humanoid monsters, the sensation of flying. There are other people in my dreams and I feel like I know them, but none of them have faces. I feel familiar with them, and I can tell that I know them, but they're just shadows. And every dream ends one of two ways: either a romantic, loving embrace as I fall asleep in the arms of some shadow man, or a steamy wet dream with the same shadow man that leaves me all hot and bothered when I wake up.

My dream today had ended in the more heartwarming, PG13 way. This ending always left me feeling relaxed and recharged, which I was glad for because of my working interview. The last thing I needed was to be sexually frustrated while trying to make a good impression on the staff and customers.

I got out of bed and headed to my kitchen to make myself lunch. 

\------------

I parked in the alley behind Survey and walked in through the back door. The office sat near the back door in the hallway that led from the kitchen to the walk-in fridge.

As I was walking down the hall toward the office, a blond boy came out of the fridge holding a box of onions. Most of his hair was tucked under a forest green chef skull cap and he wore a white chef coat with light pants and brown boots. He looked up at me and stopped walking. He nearly dropped his box as his mouth flopped open and his blue eyes went wide.

I also stopped walking and cocked my head to the side, furrowing my brow a little in confusion. What was this kid's problem? "Hello?" I greeted after a long few seconds of silence.

That seemed to snap him out of his stupor as he closed his mouth and adjusted his hold on the box in his hands. "Chef Levi isn't here yet," he said in a rush.

I straightened my head back to normal, but my eyebrows knitted together even harder. Did I look like I was dressed for kitchen work? I was wearing slacks and a silky long sleeve top - that's not the stuff you cook in. "Okay? I'm here for Mr. Smith. I'm interviewing for the FOH manager position."

"Oh…" he said quietly before saying more loudly, "Oh! Yes! I remember him mentioning that. He should be in the office with Hange."

Erwin must have heard us talking because he opened the office door and looked out into the hallway. He looked at me and said, "Kat, glad you're here. Come on in." He then turned to the blond boy and said, "Armin, get back to work."

"Yes sir!" Armin said before rushing down the hall to the kitchen. 

Erwin stepped back into the office and I followed. A brunette woman with glasses was sitting on the desk facing the door, but she jumped to her feet when I walked in the door.

"Kat!" She shouted as she approached me, almost looking like she was going to hug me. "It's so good to see you!"

I took a step back and stared at her. "Uhhh," I started, completely caught off guard, "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Zoe. I've heard a lot about your work with local businesses to lower Survey's food costs without a drop in quality. It's very impressive."

Her smile faltered for just a second before she fixed it. "Right, welcome aboard. We're excited to see how you do tonight," she finally said. "Sorry for my earlier outburst. I was just… excited to have a new potential manager."

I nodded despite my skepticism. If this was how she greeted strangers, I would hate to see how she greeted friends. "I'm excited for the opportunity to get to know the team a little. You said you wanted me to meet the kitchen staff first?"

"Ah yes, of course," Hange said with a snap of her fingers like she just remembered something important. "Follow me, I'll introduce you and give you a quick tour of the kitchen, then a tour of the front. The servers and bartenders should be showing up soon."

I did as she said and followed her out of the office and into the kitchen. Four young people in identical uniforms were working quietly and quickly, occasionally consulting prep lists that were pinned to the front of their stations. 

Hange pointed at each person as she said their names, "We've got Armin, Mikasa, Ymir, and Bertholdt. Levi stays after close every night to work on the next night's menu and prep lists, so these guys know exactly what they need to do as soon as they come in everyday." 

I didn't particularly appreciate how all four of them stared at me as I walked past them toward the dining room. "Where is Chef Ackerman?" I asked once I realized he wasn't in the kitchen.

"He'll be here soon, don't worry," Hange answered.

I wasn't worried, and I found that an odd thing to say, but I kept my mouth shut. I was starting to suspect that everyone was going to treat me oddly for a while. This must be some kind of hazing ritual for new staff at the restaurant.

She toured me around the dining room and bar showing me various things. I knew I would be learning a lot more from the FOH staff as they arrived so I didn't bother asking many questions. 

Everyone started showing up soon after the tour ended and I was introduced as they all entered the dining room. Connie and Sasha were the bartenders. Hange quietly warned me to never ever let Sasha handle food if possible. Connie was good at wrangling her most of the time. Jean, Reiner, Eren, and Marco were the servers. They were all handsome, tall, charismatic, and certainly made good money from tips. Hange gave me another warning: Eren and Jean tended to argue a lot so keep an eye on them and try to defuse any situations before things got physical. Marco was usually pretty good at calming them down. And finally there was Krista, the hostess. Her real name was Historia but she was sick of customers mispronouncing her name so she decided to go by her middle name instead. Cute and bubbly, she had a great customer service smile that I imagine people loved to see when they walked in the door. Hange didn't really have a warning for Krista, just to make sure she didn't get too distracted by Ymir. This seemed easy enough since Ymir worked back of house.

Everyone's uniforms had the same color scheme as the ones I saw in the kitchen, but the design was a bit more formal since they were customer-facing. FOH staff wore emerald green dress shirts, light pants, tall brown boots, and brown server aprons tied around their waists. Krista was the only one who had her sleeves down to her wrists - everyone else had them rolled up the elbows.

Krista was in the middle of explaining to me the seating rotation she uses when we were all called into the kitchen for the pre-service team meeting. I followed everyone back into the kitchen where steam was now billowing from several pots on the stove and all the chopped products from before had been squirreled away in their designated storage spaces. The staff crowded into the kitchen and found any available standing space. Erwin motioned for me to stand between him and Hange at the head of the group.

Just as everyone was getting settled in their respective spots, the back door swung open and, who I can only assume was Chef Ackerman, walked in with a scowl on his face. "Who's the idiot who parked in my fucking spot?" He shouted as he entered the kitchen. He held a steel travel mug in one hand and a small notebook in the other. He had the same uniform as the rest of the kitchen staff, but his chef coat was black instead of white to denote his position as executive chef.

I rolled my eyes and turned to face him. He froze misstep when I turned around and he nearly dropped his travel mug. His eyes grew wide as he stared at me.

More staring. Fantastic.

"That may have been me, sorry about that," I said with a tight grin. So far, he was definitely living up to his reputation of being a clean freak with a short temper. It's not like there was assigned parking, there were just unmarked spots in the alley behind the restaurant. I extended my hand out for him to shake. "Nice to meet you, Chef Ackerman. I'm Katherine Sloan, I'm interviewing for the FOH manager position."

"Kat?" He responded quietly, his eyes never leaving my face as he did not extend his hand to shake mine.

"Yes?" I answered hesitantly. Was he clarifying that he heard my name correctly? Was this his way of asking if I was okay with being called Kat instead of Katherine?

Levi looked at Erwin with the same surprised look he was giving me. I looked up at Erwin and saw the tall man grinning widely.

As I looked back at Levi, he suddenly shook his head and steeled his expression once more back to an indifferent pout that bordered on a scowl. "Don't worry about the parking spot. It's nice to meet you," he said as he tucked his notebook away and stuck out his hand for me to shake.

I took his hand and started to shake it, but froze. In my mind, that shadow man from my dreams finally had a face. Levi's face. I couldn't stop my mind from rapidly recounting all the sex dreams, all the sweet touches, all the loving embraces. It had all felt so real before, but now that I had a face it felt a little creepy. Almost like I was somehow invading Levi's privacy.

I felt my face and ears instantly burn with a blush as I yanked my hand away. Levi's hand hung in the air as he continued watching me. Eventually, his fingers curled back in on themselves and he put his hand down.

I turned back and saw that everyone was staring at us. How fucking awkward. I bowed my head to stare at the floor as Erwin finally started talking. "You've all had a chance to meet Kat now, so I'll skip the introductions. She's doing a working interview tonight so treat her like you would any manager. That's all I really have to say so I'll hand it over to Chef Levi to go over tonight's menu," Erwin finished speaking, gave me a pat on the shoulder, and turned to walk back to the office.

Levi stepped up next to me, taking Erwin's spot, took out his notebook, and flipped it open. I glanced over and saw the page was scrawled with small handwriting and today's date was written at the top. "Specials for tonight are venison bourguignon, teriyaki snapper with wild mushroom polenta, and potato and leek soup." He snapped the notebook closed and tucked it into his pocket before he looked up at the staff. "Everyone understand?" 

They all snapped to attention, folded their right arms behind their backs, and put their left fists over their hearts before shouting, "Yes sir!" They quickly walked off to finish their respective prep work before opening.

What a weird way to enforce discipline at a restaurant. I didn't remember ever reading that the staff or owners of Survey were ex-military, but the saluting and formalities were hinting otherwise. Hange patted me on the shoulder much like Erwin had and walked out toward the dining room.

"Do you have an ingredient list for the specials?" I asked Levi. "I want to be able to answer customer questions accurately."

"I don't have it written down because they're all dishes we've served before, but I can write it down for you if you want," he answered and took a sip from his travel mug. So the rumor that he was an unhelpful, insulting bastard was incorrect. Good. I was half expecting him to tell me to go fuck myself. It wouldn't be the first time some stuck up chef treated me like garbage because I worked FOH.

"No need, just tell me. I'll remember it." If there was one useful skill I learned in fine dining, it was tricks to remembering long lists. Nile didn't allow any of his servers to write down orders; it all had to be memorized.

Levi cocked a skeptical eyebrow and started listing off various ingredients, seasonings, and cooking methods. I nodded along with each description. These were dishes I was familiar with, but I knew each chef tended to make them a little different. Besides, I found Levi's deep voice incredibly soothing and was thinking of more excuses to hear him talk. Maybe my subconscious would start adding his voice to my dreams so I could be a complete fucking creep.

I parroted everything back to him to make sure I had it all correct. He nodded along like I had done and smirked when I finished. "Very good."

I couldn't help but smile a little. Another rumor about Levi was that he was an incredibly difficult man to please. I was glad I could do something right to start getting into his good graces. "I should go now. Good luck with service tonight, Chef," I said as I stepped away from him and turned around to walk back up front.

I heard him sigh before he set down his mug and walked over to the sink to wash his hands.


	3. Chapter 3

_"She has no idea, does she?"_  
"Doesn't seem like it."  
"Tch. Shit." 

****

I can only assume everyone was on their best behavior for me because the whole night went by without a hitch. There were a few times that I heard Jean's and Eren's elevated voices heading toward an argument, but as soon as I would round the corner to tell them to cool it, they would both immediately stop and pretend to be having a normal conversation. I caught Ymir trying to sneak out of the kitchen to the hostess stand twice, but again as soon as she saw me, she turned and scampered back. Maybe she was just worried I'd rat her out to Levi. And I watched a few times as poor Sasha had sweat rolling down her forehead watching plates of food pass by her. But she never even attempted to swipe a french fry. 

I sat with everyone at the bar at the end of the night as they counted their banks, had their one free beer for their shift, and nibbled on plates of leftover specials. I quietly stood behind the bar leaning against the wall as I watched them all interact and joke around. It was nice to see them all happy and enjoying themselves. I had gotten so used to bickering and backstabbing and complaints that I forgot that some people were actually capable of positivity and friendliness in the workplace.

I walked everyone to the front door and waved goodbye before locking the doors behind them. We had already cleaned the dining room, so I cleaned up the bar where we had all been sitting and took the dishes to the kitchen. There was no one in sight, so I put the dishes in the washer and started it before walking back toward the office. 

When I turned the corner, Levi was sitting on a stool at one of the kitchen stations drinking from a mug and looking down at his notebook. I watched him for a few seconds as he tapped his pen against the paper, sighed in frustration, flung his pen against the wall, and then sat back to run his fingers through his hair. I took another moment to be weird as I imagined it was my fingers running through his hair instead. It looked soft despite the fact that it had been stuck under a hat all night. I started thinking of a few things I could do to help him relieve his stress.

When I decided I should stop being such a pervert, I walked completely around the corner and approached him. "How was your night?" I asked as I leaned on the countertop next to him. I glanced down at his notebook. At the top of the page was tomorrow's date. Underneath that was a list of dishes, but they had all been scribbled out. This must be his time to work on the next night’s specials and make prep lists.

He picked his pen back up and looked down at his paper once more. "It was fine."

"Everyone loved the specials," I said in an effort to make him feel better. It seemed like he was maybe a little depressed. "You're a great chef. I hope we get a chance to work together."

He sighed again and started writing as he quietly said, "Me too." He never looked over at me the whole time we spoke.

I reached out to put a reassuring hand on his arm, but stopped when I saw his left hand. He had a ring on his finger. He's fucking married. 

Fuck.

I withdrew my hand and cleared my throat a little before awkwardly saying good night and walking past him to the office where Erwin and Hange were going over the numbers for the night. I was really going to have to rein in my inappropriate imagination. I couldn't pine over a married coworker. That wouldn't be fair to me, Levi, or his wife.

"So…" Hange started as I walked into the office and sat down, "What'd you think?"

"I think it's more important what you two thought," I responded.

Erwin grinned and leaned back in his noisy chair. "When can you start?"

\---------

I was scheduled to work the next night at Sina so I typed up a resignation letter, signed and dated it, and tucked it into my purse to give it to Nile at the beginning of my shift. I planned on leaving in a week which should be enough time to find my replacement, especially for a place like Sina. We were always receiving resumes and applications from people even when we had no openings in the restaurant, so Nile would basically have free pick on a new FOH manager.

I arrived at work a little early that night to give Nile my letter and answer any questions he might have. I handed him the letter and sat down in the office to let him read it. This office wasn't quite as cramped and messy as Erwin's, but it was still uncomfortable to spend extended periods of time in. 

When Nile was done reading, he tossed the letter carelessly on his desk and looked at me with a scowl. "You're going to Survey, aren't you?"

I didn't answer him. He didn't need to know and I didn't want to tell him, but I guess my silence was answer enough for him because he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Erwin is always trying to poach people from us and The Garrison, but I never thought anyone would be stupid enough to go."

"Excuse me?" I asked. Survey was a successful restaurant, why _wouldn’t _someone want to work there?__

__He ignored my question. "Well I'll tell you this, Kat: no one _quits_ Sina."_ _

__My eyebrows knitted together. Did he plan on trying to force me to stay? What was his fucking deal tonight?_ _

__"You're fired, effective immediately. Leave your keys," he said once he realized how confused I was._ _

__

__“You’re joking,” I said with a slight chuckle in my voice. It wasn't a ‘haha funny’ chuckle, more of a ‘this is really awkward’ chuckle._ _

__He just glared back at me and stayed silent. He wasn’t joking._ _

__I cleared my throat, stood from the chair, fished my keys out of my pocket, carelessly tossed them onto a pile of paperwork on the desk, and left. I held my head high as I walked through the kitchen and out the back door. I didn’t bother telling anyone what happened. Nile would certainly spread the news with his own spin, and I didn’t really care anymore. Let them think I was an idiot - their opinions didn’t matter to me._ _

__I got in my car and sat in the quiet for a little while as I processed my emotions. At first I was upset about getting fired, but then I realized it didn’t really matter. I already had another job lined up, so it’s not like Nile could blacklist me. I hated working at Sina, so it’s not like I’d been removed from a job I loved. I did everything I could to remain professional and give Nile time to find my replacement, but he shot himself in the foot and left himself without a manager._ _

__I let out a long, steady breath and looked at the time. 4:00pm. I started up my car and drove to Survey. They were already open and serving customers, but I figured Erwin wouldn’t be particularly busy yet. I walked in through the back door and made my way to the office._ _

__“Kat, this is a surprise,” Erwin said as I stepped through the door._ _

__I smiled a little. “I was going to call, but I was nearby and decided to drop by and let you know in person instead. My schedule has been rearranged so I can start tomorrow instead of next week if you are okay with that.” Sure, it was a bit of a fib, but I wasn’t about to complain about my old boss to my new boss._ _

__He gave me a matching smile and steepled his fingers over his chest as his elbows rested on the torn up leather arms of his chair. “I see you’re already dressed for work. You can start tonight if you want.”_ _

__“Oh.” Was all I could think to say at first. After a few seconds, I said, “But service has already started?”_ _

__He shrugged his shoulders and just kept grinning at me. We stared at each other for a few moments in silence. He was serious._ _

__I finally let out a breath and asked, “Is there any paperwork I need to sign?”_ _

__His grin widened to a full on smile as he waved his hand dismissively. “We’ll handle that later. Get the specials from Levi and go relieve Hange up front.”_ _

__“Roger that,” I answered as I stood, smoothed out the wrinkles in my dress, and left the office._ _


	4. Chapter 4

_"How long is this going to take?"  
"You know it's different for everybody. Some people immediately remember and some take a little while. Be patient, Levi."_

****

Unfortunately my first week didn't go nearly as smoothly as my interview night had gone. 

Wednesday  
My first official night as the FOH manager had been great. Everyone had continued behaving themselves and I got to meet a few of the restaurant’s regulars. There were some upset customers, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

Thursday   
I came in at 1:30 like usual. I said hello to all the line cooks in the kitchen, but noticed that only three of them responded to me. I walked over to Bertholdt and saw that he was sweating buckets. I'd been told that he was normally a pretty sweaty person, but this seemed excessive - even for him.

"Bert?" I asked as I came to stand next to him.

He silently looked up at me and I could see the pure exhaustion in his eyes. His skin was pale and he swayed ever so slightly where he stood.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He swallowed thickly and shrugged his shoulders before turning back to his prep list.

"Are you sick?" I tried again to get some sort of useful answer out of him.

He just nodded slightly in response.

I sighed and put my hand on his arm to make his hands stop moving. "Go home and get some rest. You look awful and I don't need you getting customers sick."

He looked up at me again and nodded once before setting down his tools and leaving. He didn't even say goodbye to anyone. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose as I thought about ways to fix the fact that the kitchen was now short staffed. I turned to face the rest of the cooks and saw that all three of them were staring at me - they were certainly wondering the same thing. 

I walked into the office, grabbed an extra chef's coat that was hanging on the wall, threw it on over my clothes, and walked back into the kitchen. As I pulled my hair back in a ponytail, I said, "Tell me what you need me to do."

Levi showed up at his normal time about an hour later. I quickly glanced up from the cutting board I was using just long enough to say hello before I went back to dicing vegetables.

"Where's Bertholdt?" Levi asked.

"I sent him home," I answered without looking up.

"Why the hell would you do that?" He snapped.

The kitchen had already been quiet before, but now it felt like you could hear a pin drop in the dead silence. The line cooks were waiting to see what happened next.

"Because he looked like he was about to vomit into the soup stock he was making," I snapped back.

"But now I'm down a line cook," Levi argued.

"No shit, Sherlock. Why do you think I'm back here working through the prep list?" I asked as I finally set the knife down and looked at him.

"But you're not a cook," he pointed out.

I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation before I started mocking his voice, "Wow Kat thanks so much for taking food safety and the well-being of our customers and staff so seriously. And thanks for also stepping into a role you're not exactly comfortable in too make sure the night runs smoothly." I changed back to my normal voice as I continued, "I made a decision that negatively impacted the team and now I’m doing what I can to rectify that. Would you rather I sit on my ass at the bar?"

He scoffed and looked away from my glare. 

"I didn't think so." I turned back to the cutting board and picked up the knife again. I hope he’s not like this with his wife - I’d knock him the hell out if he got that attitude with me at home.

After a moment, Levi walked over and looked into the containers I had been filling with various vegetables and herbs. He inspected a handful from each container before he finally, very quietly, said, "Good job."

I rolled my eyes and kept working.

Thursday  
Bertholdt was back and feeling much better, so Thursday went by without a problem.

Friday  
Reiner called out sick. Apparently, he and Bertholdt lived together so Reiner caught whatever funk Bertholdt had earlier in the week. Luckily there were some extra server uniforms in the back I could wear. Nothing was in my exact size, but it was close enough. Service started and Marco gave me a crash course in how the POS system was organized. It was the same software used at Sina, but with completely different menus so I was essentially starting from square one. I was going to have to learn quickly because I was taking Reiner's tables for the night.

Two hours into service I felt like I was crashing and burning. I was entering all the orders correctly, but I was going way too slow as I had to keep searching the screen for the right buttons. I was trying my best not to ask my staff for help because it was Friday night dinner rush and they were knee deep in their own shit. My stress must have been pretty evident because, as I was standing at the computer struggling my way through the order from my 6-top, I heard a voice over my shoulder.

"Need some help?"

I jumped a little and turned around to see Levi standing close behind me with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How could you tell?" I asked.

"I heard you stringing together some pretty creative curse words and figured you weren't doing it out of joy." He stepped up and gently nudged me aside just enough so that he could access the screen but I could still see what he was doing. "What's the order?"

I started rattling off everything and his fingers flew over the screen inputting the order just as fast as I was saying it. When he finished, I sighed in relief and thanked him.

“It’s the least I could do after you helped us so much the other night. Come get me when you need another order put in.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and his fingers brushed against mine.

It was like a tiny shot of electricity ran through me as my brain forced me to see all those dreams again. I shook my head to clear the lewd images.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he reached for my hand.

I yanked my hand back and took a step away. “Yup, I’m fine. Thanks again.” I left to check on my tables before he could ask me anything else. I made a point not to bother him again for the rest of the night. I either struggled through getting my orders placed or asked one of my servers to help me.


	5. Chapter 5

_"This is taking fucking forever. What if she never remembers?"  
"It's been less than a week. Be patient."_

*****

Monday rolled around and I showed up early in the morning wearing leggings, a tank top, and sneakers. Survey was closed on Mondays, so that's when inventory was taken, food and supply orders were placed, and any deep cleaning was done. The management staff was required to be there, but regular staff was not. They were given an incentive to volunteer with higher pay for the day and free lunch, but it was apparently still a rare occurrence for more than one or two people to show up. Today, Reiner and Bertholdt were the only ones who came in, and they were most likely only there to make up for the night they each missed during the previous week. Levi and I were supposed to make our respective inventory lists so that Hange could place orders when she came in later in the day. 

A short, wide hallway with floor-to-ceiling shelving units all along one wall served as a storage area for everything we needed up front - to-go boxes, plastic silverware, extra glasses and cutlery, linens, etc. Hange had given me a list with recommended quantities of each item, so I was slowly making my way through the bottom shelves checking off items and writing down numbers.

Unfortunately, the top shelves were way too high for my short little ass to see into the back at what was hidden behind the bags and boxes. I looked around for the ladder I had just used the night before but couldn’t find it. I walked out into the dining room and saw Reiner standing on the ladder dusting and wiping down all the wall decor along the ceiling. He looked like he’d just started, so I decided not to bother him. I walked back into the kitchen where Bertholdt was on his hands and knees scrubbing behind one of the ovens. Levi was looking through the shelving units in the back of the kitchen that held all the utensils and cookware. I decided to bother Levi instead of Bertholdt.

“Do you guys have a step stool I can borrow for a little while?” I asked as I walked up, making sure to keep just out of arm’s reach. I wasn’t about to be touched by him again, accidental or no.

"No there's only one ladder in the restaurant," Levi answered without looking at me.

I groaned in annoyance.

"What do you need?" He asked.

"I need to see the top shelves in the hallway but Reiner's using the ladder," I explained.

Levi put down his clipboard and walked toward me. "I'll help you, come on."

I cocked a skeptical eyebrow, but followed him into the hall regardless. He was taller than me, but not by enough to see and reach all the way in the back of the shelves. You'd have to be Erwin's height to see the top shelves without needing a ladder. As we stood in front of the shelves, I picked my clipboard back up from where I'd left it in my search for a stool. I opened my mouth to say something to Levi, but was interrupted when I was suddenly lifted into the air. Disorientation got the better of me and I let out a surprised shriek. Levi had managed to sneak his head between my legs and had lifted me up onto his shoulders. He stood perfectly still as he waited for me to catch my balance.

"You okay in there Kat?" I heard Reiner yell from the dining room.

"She's fine," Levi yelled back. "Keep cleaning."

I grabbed a handful of Levi's hair and wrapped my legs under his arms to keep myself upright. "Are you crazy? Let me down," I spat down at him.

"Thanks for putting your work on hold to help me, Levi. You're my hero," he responded in a mocking tone before pinching my thigh.

"Ow!" I squeaked and yanked on his hair.

"For fuck's sake just fill out your list. This is faster than waiting on Sasquatch to finish cleaning out there."

I let out an annoyed growl and started working. He didn't seem to be struggling to carry my weight, so I went ahead and took the time to dust and reorganize the shelves while I was there. If he was going to be a smart ass, I was going to take advantage of his assistance. 

I cleared off one shelf and started wiping it down as Levi patiently and quietly continued holding me. I zoned out as I worked and started daydreaming. Something about this situation was giving me a weird sense of dejavu, much like my interview with Erwin. Being up on Levi's shoulders and cleaning something just felt familiar. Comfortable. Without realizing it, I started running the fingers of my free hand through Levi's hair and lightly scratching his scalp with my nails. I felt his strong hands lightly massage my thighs in response and I let out a contented sigh. 

The shelves were cleaned and organized a few minutes later so I quietly asked Levi to let me down. We'd just been sharing some very intimate touches so I was feeling a little awkward as my feet touched the floor. It wasn't anything sexual, but it was definitely more than would be expected of acquaintances. I kept my hands on the shelf in front of me and my back to Levi as I pretended to continue filling out my list. I hoped if I just ignored him he would walk away. As soon as Levi was standing up straight again, I felt his body press into mine as he slid his arms around my waist and put his chin on my shoulder. Again I was feeling that familiar comfort like the two of us were meant to be like this. I leaned back into his chest and laid my arms over his. And then I felt it. 

His goddamn wedding ring that I'd completely forgotten about.

A string of expletives escaped my mouth as I disentangled myself from Levi and put some distance between us.

His hands went up in defense. "What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?" I was struggling to keep my voice down as I pointed at his left hand. " _That's_ what's wrong. Married people don't act like this with someone who isn't their spouse."

His thumb moved to his wedding band and started spinning it around his finger - probably a nervous tic. "Look, it's fine."

" _What_?" I was actually shrieking now. "It's not fine you fucking scumbag!"

"Shh!" His hand smacked down over my mouth.

I glared up at him.

"My relationship with my wife is… complicated. Okay?"

I peeled his hand off my face and pushed him back. "Please, enlighten me as to what complications would validate adultery. Are you in an open relationship? Are you swingers? Are you poly?"

"No," he groaned and ran a hand down his face. "It's… fuck… it's hard to explain."

"Well, until you figure out how to explain it, please stay away from me. I'm not a homewrecker."

I waited a couple of seconds to see if he would respond in some way. When he didn't, I walked away. I dropped my clipboard with my completed list on the desk in the office and left the restaurant. 

The original plan was to go home and wallow in self pity at getting so familiar with a married man, but instead I decided to text a few of my friends and let them know that I was going to our usual bar if anyone wanted to join.

\-----

Mike was the only person who ended up showing up to the bar. Honestly, I didn't expect much. Most of my friends were also in the restaurant industry and certainly had work tonight. Not that getting hammered and then going in to work was out of the question for those in the industry, but still.

The tall, broad blond took the barstool next to me and bumped his shoulder against mine in greeting. "What's the special occasion?" He asked after he placed his drink order. 

"Ever had one of those days where you feel so filthy that no amount of showering could make you feel better?" I ask.

"Oh, Kat," he started with a sad sigh, "That's everyday for me."

I couldn't help but snort out a laugh.

He grinned and took a gulp of his drink. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I'm having these weird sex dreams and urges about one of my coworkers."

"... And?" He prompted me to explain further. Wanting to bang a coworker wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

"He's married."

Mike's sigh this time was actually sympathetic as he held his glass out to clink against mine. "To hormones."

I silently touched my glass to his before downing the rest of the liquid. I ordered another before turning to my friend and asking, "So what was the newest episode of that podcast?"

Mike had this podcast he listened to regularly that covered fringe-y, science-y topics. I could never remember the name of it and I wasn't interested in listening to it myself, but I liked the way Mike recounted the episodes. 

"This week they talked about the possibility of a zombie apocalypse…" he went on to explain the points the hosts had made. There were already microorganisms in nature that infected and controlled the actions of their hosts, turning them into mindless drones whose sole purpose was spreading the infection. You pair that with the fact that we're unintentionally breeding superbugs and it's (according to the podcast hosts) a ticking time bomb before some zombifying superbug causes the world to collapse.

I made it through two drinks while he talked. My speech was starting to slur and I was having a harder time forming coherent thoughts.

"I'm excited for next week's episode. It's about reincarnation," he said.

"Like Buddhists?" I asked as I looked over the bar's menu. I realized I'd never eaten lunch and I needed food if I didn't want to completely ruin tomorrow with a hangover. "Don't be shitty in this life or else you'll come back in the next life as a fucking cockroach or something?"

"I'm not sure, I'll let you know after I listen to it. Two weeks ago they did one on amnesia. They talked about how we still don't really understand the brain, especially when it comes to things like how and why we form memories. That's why it's almost impossible to help people suffering from amnesia, because it's tough to fix something when we don't know how it works. It's also why government mind control can never be proven because we can't prove which memories are real and which ones are planted."

"Mike, I'm too drunk for this," I finally admitted.

He smirked down at me as I slumped on the bar. "Want me to take you home?"

"Yes please."

\----------

I never did end up eating dinner that night, so I woke up way too early the next morning with an awful hangover. My mouth was a desert and my stomach churned simultaneously with starvation and crippling nausea. I rolled out of bed and clumsily got to my feet before shuffling into my dark kitchen for a glass of juice. Mike was facedown and snoring on my couch. After the bar, we came back to my place and continued drinking.

Briefly I considered texting his girlfriend to let her know where he was, but decided that it wasn't my job to make sure Nanaba knew Mike's whereabouts. If she asked, I would let her know. Otherwise it was none of my business. Besides, it was only 4am and I didn't want to wake her up, especially since she was pregnant and needed all the sleep she could get.

I took my juice back to my room and laid back down to try and get a few more hours of sleep. And, as pathetic as it sounds, I was hoping I could pick back up where I'd left off in my recurring dream. Some of the other shadow figures were starting to gain faces now. They were all my wait staff at Survey, but that kind of made everything more fun because their personalities were beginning to bleed into my dreams. And, as much as I knew in my conscious mind that it was wrong, I looked forward to the end of my dreams where Levi either held me in his arms and combed his fingers through my hair or he pounded me into the mattress.

My dreams had been occurring in increasing frequency and intensity the longer I worked at Survey. It was getting to the point that I occasionally woke up and could still physically _feel_ Levi's hands all over my body. Eventually I was going to have to do something to stop these dreams, but for now I was going to keep selfishly enjoying them.


	6. Chapter 6

_"I may have fucked it up."  
"How?"  
"I thought she remembered. Turns out she didn't."  
A sigh. "Levi, you have to **ask**. You know that."_

****

Slowly but surely over the next few weeks, everyone started getting comfortable with me being at the restaurant and they started falling back into their bad habits. Nearly every night I was having to tell Jean and Eren to pull their heads out of their asses and stop antagonizing each other. And nearly every night I was dragging Ymir back to the kitchen and telling her to leave my hostess alone. Luckily Connie was still doing a decent job at keeping Sasha away from food, but I still made sure that I ran her food whenever I could. Levi had also obeyed my wishes and kept his distance. It made some moments awkward because we were still trying to figure out how to act around each other. No one came right out and asked what was going on between Levi and me, but I could see the question in some of their eyes.

One night, after the staff had left and it was just the managers remaining, Hange approached me as I was cleaning up the bar where the wait staff had been drinking their beers and eating their food while they counted their banks. "What's the deal with you and Levi?" She asked.

"What deal?"

She rolled her eyes. "You two are more awkward than two high schoolers on their first date."

I shrugged and tried to keep my expression neutral. "We've got a working, professional relationship. I'm sorry if you see that as awkward." I was not about to admit to my boss that I was having wet dreams about Levi almost every night now. People get fired for shit like that.

She watched me for what felt like forever. It was like her eyes were boring into my soul, daring me to continue lying to her. I suddenly understood why Erwin picked her as his GM. I imagined a lot of people crumpled under her crazy eyes.

The silence was finally broken when she clapped her hands together and announced, "Erwin's birthday is in two weeks. We normally celebrate by shutting the restaurant down and having a big party here." 

I was a bit startled by the sudden shift in conversation, but I sure as hell wasn't going to question it. "Oh that sounds like a lot of fun."

Hange nodded and explained how it normally worked. It wasn't a black tie affair, but everyone was expected to dress more than casual. Levi always volunteered to cook all the food and Hange always ran the bar. All the other staff would be off for the night and invited to the party. There was, however, an unspoken rule that half of the staff would come early to help set up and the other half would stay after to clean.

"Where do you want me?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter. We're only doing beer and wine so running the bar will be pretty easy for me. Maybe you can help Levi finish cooking early so that he can actually enjoy the party for once."

So that's why she was asking what's going on between me and Levi - she wanted me to help him during the party and wanted to make sure we’d be able to work together. No matter. I could keep my shit together for a few hours. I'd been doing fine enough with it so far. How different could this be?

\-----

The night of Erwin's party quickly approached. About a week ago, I finally realized that my Levi dreams felt so real because they _were_ real. They were _memories_ , not dreams. I still had no idea _how_ they were memories, but it was the only explanation I could think of. Everything else in the dreams - the old houses, the open plains, the giant stone walls - still felt made up, but I knew that the parts with Levi had definitely happened before.

I thought about what Mike told me about his amnesia podcast. I remember him saying that we don't really know how memories form, so it's hard to know why we remember some things but not others. Are these dreams my brain's way of trying to recover some lost memories? Who fucking knows? I definitely wasn't about to ask Levi if the two of us used to fuck on a regular basis. If he said no, he would then ask why I was asking and I would have to spill the beans on my naughty dreams. If he said yes, it didn't really matter because he's married so it's not like we could be together. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be with him if he _were_ to leave his wife. Sure, being around him and touching him felt comfortable, but he was still a raging asshole.

I showed up at Survey two hours before the party was supposed to start. I wore an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt that I didn't really care about since I was going to be working in the kitchen and didn't want to ruin my party clothes. I put a small overnight bag in the office that held my dress and some cosmetics to clean myself up later. I had no idea what Levi planned for the menu, so I took a seat in the kitchen and waited for him to arrive.

Luckily the wait was short as he showed up about five minutes later. He struggled to open the back door and walk through with both hands full of canvas tote bags.

"Need some help?" I asked as I walked over and held the door open for him.

He was obviously surprised by my being here, but he tried his best to hide it. "There's more in my car."

With a nod, I went outside and grabbed as many bags as I could. His trunk was nearly full of various types of food and serving utensils. As soon as it was all inside, he started putting away frozen items.

"What's all this?" I asked as I helped him. 

It was stuff I never imagined I would see in the Survey kitchen: Frozen premade appetizers, prepackaged deli meats and cheeses, boxes of dry pasta and jars of pasta sauces, and rotisserie chickens that were so huge I couldn't fathom how many growth hormones were pumped into them during their short lives on factory farms. 

"You think I'm going to make some expensive gourmet food for a bunch of drunk assholes by myself?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I figured you'd hate premade shit like this."

"I don't necessarily like it, but I don't hate it. This stuff is faster and easier and I don't have to really plan a menu. Plus it keeps well after sitting out for a few hours. It's shit but I never know what to get Erwin for his birthday so buying and making food for his party is my gift to him," he explained.

I had to stare at him for a moment. 

"What?" He asked once he noticed me staring.

"I think that's the longest I've ever heard you speak in one go," I answered with a sarcastic grin.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Brat." I just caught the smirk on his face as he turned away from me. "Cut this bread roll in half and start putting mayo on it."

\-----

The final spread of food wasn't bad. Mini lunch meat sandwiches with lettuce and tomato, chicken salad sandwiches with dried cranberries and walnuts, chicken spinach fettuccine alfredo, penne with red sauce and meatballs, boneless wings tossed in two different sauces, a big veggie tray, and a big fruit tray. And everything came with extra in case we ran out. Hange bought a cake, but we were keeping it in the fridge until it was time to cut into it.

When we were finally done cooking and cleaning up the mess, I went into the office to grab my bag. Levi was already there and in the process of changing, so I kept my eyes to myself as I gathered my things.

"I've never actually attended his birthday parties. I'm usually stuck in the damn kitchen the whole time," he said as I was getting ready to walk out.

I stopped mid step and almost turned to face him, but remembered he was only half dressed and stopped myself. "Is that your way of saying thanks?" I asked the wall. "Or are you whining because you have to be social now?"

A few seconds of silence passed where the only sound was his rustling clothing.

"Okay then," I finally said and opened the door to leave.

I just barely heard him murmur, "Thank you," as I shut the door behind me once more.

From my vantage point walking into the bathroom, I could see a few of my servers setting up decorations and moving tables and chairs around. I made quick work of getting ready so that I could go help them.

The restaurant quickly filled with Erwin's friends, family, and acquaintances. I recognized quite a few people from my time working in the industry, but I never expected Mike and Nanaba to show up. 

I found them sitting at a table by themselves so I approached and greeted them both. "I didn't know you guys were friends with Erwin."

"Oh yeah, we go way back," Mike said. "You want to join us?" He asked as he waved his hand at the empty seats across from them.

"Love to," I said as I pulled out a chair and sat. "Hey Mike, I'm curious about that amnesia episode of your podcast. Do people ever recover their memories?"

"Sometimes. It depends on what caused them to lose their memories in the first place."

I hummed a little and folded my arms on the table in front of me. "Do they have links to the sources they use for their research?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly and a little dismissively. "Do you want to hear about the reincarnation episode?"

"Not really."

"But there are stories of entire communities of people who come together because they all knew each other in their past lives," he insisted.

I shrugged. "Sounds too out-there for me."

A few moments passed before he asked, "Really?"

I nodded and looked around the room at everyone drinking and eating and having fun. It felt so familiar and inviting. I had never been so comfortable and content in a room full of people.

"You know..." Mike started talking again and I looked over at him. "They say some memories are tied to senses like hearing and smell. A lot of people who claim to be reincarnated say all their memories came back after they smelled or heard or felt something from their past lives."

"Do you think amnesiatic memories work the same way?" I asked.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Nanaba patted him gently on the shoulder.

"What?" I asked. "Was it something I said?"

Before Mike could answer, a mug of tea was set down on the table in front of me. I smelled it before I saw it, really. Strongly-brewed black tea, sage, ginger, sugar, and just a hint of mint. Only a hint because I don't really like mint. And just like how I didn't need to look at the tea to know what it was or who brought it, I didn't need to think before I picked up the mug and a familiar-but-not-familiar phrase popped out of my mouth: "Thanks, Love."

I had never called anyone 'Love' before - past relations had always been 'Babe' - and I had never had this tea before. And yet both tasted just as perfect and familiar on my lips.

I just barely heard someone asking, "What did you just say?" As my vision blurred on the edges and the room changed. The stone, castle-like walls looked almost identical, but Survey’s decorations were gone. The electric lighting disappeared, replaced by torches. Instead of dining room tables there were now long wooden tables with bench seating. Instead of sandwiches and boneless wings, everyone had a simple wooden bowl in front of them filled with soup. All the same people were there. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were sitting together at one table with Krista and Ymir. Jean, Marco, Connie, and Sasha were at another. Reiner and Bert were standing in the corner laughing together. I was sitting at a table at the front of the room with Mike and Nanaba across from me.

But no one was wearing their party clothes. They were all dressed in uniforms that were sort-of similar to their work uniforms, but not quite the same. A light button-down shirt, tight white pants, tall brown boots, a brown cloth around the hips, and leather straps criss-crossing their bodies. These uniforms looked more militaristic and appeared to serve some specific purpose or function, but I couldn’t tell what. I looked down at myself and saw that I was wearing the same uniform. I looked back up at my tea mug before I looked over at the end of the table where Levi was standing. His palms were splayed on the table top and he was hunched over looking at me with wide eyes. A mug of tea identical to mine was sitting next to him on the table. This was our nightly ritual: he would make us a pot of this tea and we would drink it together in the dining hall before going back to our quarters. Our joint quarters that were reserved for married couples. And my pet name for him was 'Love'.

It took me a moment to realize he was speaking, and once I heard, "Kat? Say it again! Kat!" I snapped back to reality.

I was back in Survey. The decor was back on the walls, the torches and tables were gone, the uniforms were gone. But Mike, Nanaba, and Levi were all still there. And they were all staring at me.

I put on my best poker face and looked up at Levi, still hunched over the table with an unrecognizable mix of emotions on his normally-stoic face. "I said thanks, Levi," I lied and sipped my tea. It tasted just how I remembered. "This is delicious. I've never had it before," I lied again, "What's in it?"

Levi's shoulders slumped and he dragged his hands back off the table to let them fall at his sides.

\-----

I didn't stay at the party very long after my… whatever the fuck it was… my flashback? Levi had disappeared after I lied to his face about what I'd said. I'm sure he knew I was lying and I had scared him off. I don't blame him - I also would've gotten the hell out if my weird coworker called me Love and then spaced out for an unknown amount of time. I made up another lie about not feeling well and left not long after my episode. It was a convenient lie, as well, because it was a good alibi for when I called out sick the next night.

I felt like I was losing my mind. This had to just be some hallucination, right? Or some coping mechanism my brain was going through? My subconscious was just taking the people I saw everyday and piecing together some nice fantasy. But as the day wore on and I found myself dwelling on my psychotic break, I also found myself remembering more and more details.

We were all soldiers fighting man-eating monstrosities called titans. I enlisted in the military because I didn't know what else to do with my life and working in the Garrison seemed like a pretty respectable job for a poor kid from Shiganshina. 

When Wall Maria fell, I had only been a full-fledged soldier for a few months. I was stationed in Shiganshina and had abandoned my post as soon as I realized that the battle was lost. I was lucky enough to find my parents, get them on some horses, and get the fuck out of the district. Normally, going AWOL like that would have resulted in a court martial followed by execution, but General Zackly instead transferred me to the Survey Corps. Being a Scout was basically a death sentence anyways, and in the meantime they got some more titan fodder. 

I never expected to live past my first expedition, let alone live long enough to move up through the ranks and eventually become a squad leader. I had been promoted despite the desertion on my record because I was one of the few scouts who consistently lived.

I also never expected myself to be dumb enough to fall in love with another Scout, but then Levi showed up with his two friends. I was on Flagon's squad back then and was there when Isabel and Furlan died - by the next expedition I was a squad leader with my own team - and Levi and I had bonded over the shared tragedy of our squad being decimated. We were friends and comrades for years before we finally decided to give the whole romance thing a try. We had been adamantly against getting married, but after watching the entire regiment get slaughtered at Shiganshina during the mission to retake Wall Maria, we decided life was too short for bullshit and got married soon after.

And now I was sitting on my couch in modern times drinking straight out of a bottle of wine and wondering what I was going to do with my life. I wasn't sure that I could go back and face everyone at work again. Especially not Levi, not when I had to live with the fact that the love of my life… lives?... was married to someone else in this life. 

Mike had mentioned entire communities of people who remembered their past lives and came together. Was that the case at Survey? Did everyone remember and that's why they all worked there? Maybe Erwin was the only one who remembered and had spent years rebuilding his regiment? Maybe Erwin had no idea, but everyone who had applied to work at Survey knew? Maybe no one knew and it was just a coincidence? But everyone had acted really strange around me this whole time. Erwin asking if we had met before. Armin looking like he'd seen a ghost when we first met in the hallway. Hange greeting me like an old friend. All the staring from the rest of the staff, like they couldn't believe their eyes. 

And of course, Levi. Hard-ass, emotionless, stoic, clean freak Levi treating me completely different than everyone else. Just like in our past lives when we were married, he was more patient and softer toward me than everyone else. Did he know? If so, what about his wife?

I just kept looping back to the same question over and over again: what do I do now? I sure as shit wasn't going to just approach someone and ask, "Hey, we used to know each other like 2,000 years ago in our past lives. Do you remember me?" Levi seemed to remember me, but I couldn't know that for sure. And besides, even if he did, he's married in this life. I said it before and I'll say it again: I am not a homewrecker. Even if he was my husband first. Maybe he married Petra in this life. That girl had always been so devoted to him.

I caught myself glaring at my wine bottle at the thought of the two of them together. I had made the first move on Levi specifically because a rumor had spread that Petra was about to make a move of her own. I hadn't even realized I was in love with Levi until there was a chance that he wouldn't be mine.

With a deep sigh, I finished off the bottle, threw it in the trash, brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I couldn't hide forever. I had to go back to work and keep my shit together long enough to figure out a plan for the rest of my life. Before I crawled into bed, I rummaged through my sparse jewelry collection until I found an old ring I'd bought for a special event when I worked at The Garrison. I put it on the ring finger of my left hand. As far as I was concerned, Levi was still my husband and if I couldn't have him in this life, then I would stay single.


	7. Chapter 7

_"Something definitely happened, but I'm not sure what."  
"At least it means she's one step closer. Now we just have to wait for her to tell us."_

****

I went into work the next afternoon and did my best to ignore everyone. Of course, this was made very difficult by the fact that I was a manager and was required to talk to my staff throughout the night. 

It wasn’t until the end of the night, after all the staff was gone and I started the dishwasher like every other night, that I got caught and couldn’t get away from a conversation with Levi. He was at his normal spot with his notebook working on specials and prep lists. I said good night in passing as I speed-walked around him, but he stopped me before I could make it to the door.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked.

I sighed a little and ran a hand through my hair. I didn’t really feel better, but I knew there was nothing he could do to help so I wasn’t going to bother him with it. “Yeah, thanks for asking.”

His eyes moved up to my left hand smoothing out my hair and I saw his eyebrows come together in confusion. “Have you always been married?”

I pulled my hand in front of my face to look at my ring. I’d nearly forgotten about it. “It’s…” I tried to think of a way to explain it. I could just tell him the same thing he’d told me about his marriage - that it’s “complicated” - but that didn’t seem fair. He would probably just think I was trying to take a jab at him if I said that. “It’s a recent thing.”

“Oh,” he said quietly. His Adam's apple bobbed in a gulp. “Does he treat you well?”

I couldn’t help but sigh. Even now, faced with the (false) idea that I was with someone else, he was only concerned with me and my happiness. He’d always been like that, in his own special way. “Yeah, he treats me great. I love him a lot.” If only I could tell Levi that I was talking about him.

The corner of his mouth dipped down into a slight frown. “Good. I’m glad.”

I nodded and tore my eyes away from him so that I could turn around and walk away. I hated this. Why couldn’t he and I have met earlier in this life, before he got married? Would that have made a difference? I wondered how and when he got his memories back. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I knew it was better if I didn’t. “See you in the morning, Levi,” I said over my shoulder as I walked out the door. 

“Good night, Kat,” he called after me just as the restaurant’s back door closed behind me. 

Once I got back to my apartment, I texted Mike asking if he wanted to meet for drinks tomorrow afternoon at our usual place. He’d been pretty persistent about the damn reincarnation episode of his podcast, and I was just now realizing that maybe that was supposed to be a hint for me. A hint that he also remembered our past lives and was trying to help me remember, as well. But I wasn’t going to ask him about it until we were both nice and drunk. That way, if I was wrong and he didn’t remember anything, I could just brush it off the next day as drunken nonsense. 

\----

I ended up going to Mike’s house instead of meeting him at the bar. Nanaba had been having a rough day - nausea, general discomfort, exhaustion - and he didn’t want to leave her to go get drunk at the bar. I tried to tell him that it could just wait for another day, that all I wanted to do was ask him about the reincarnation episode of the podcast, but he had insisted that we talk that day. He assured me multiple times that Nanaba would be totally okay with me coming over for a few drinks while we talked.

So here I was, sitting in Mike’s dining room and pretending to get drunk while he actually got drunk. He had immediately started telling me about the podcast episode when I arrived. 

Some of it was stuff he'd already told me: memories may or may not come back, and it could be any number of things that trigger memories. There doesn't appear to be one uniform recovery method. 

Then there was stuff I hadn't realized yet. You were always born to the same parents, and that was really the only constant. You could die as an old person in one life, and then die as an infant in the next. Or, depending on your parents' life spans, you may just never be born. Death in one incarnation did not guarantee death in the next, and the same went for life.

As he explained that part to me, I suddenly remembered that Levi and I had a baby before. A little boy named Hunter Erwin, born a year before we attacked Marley and Eren stole the Warhammer titan. I remembered that I had fought for permission to stay home with Hunter and not have to go on the mission, but my request was denied. I remembered being so scared that Hunter was going to be orphaned. And now he was never going to be born in this life.

It didn’t take me long to realize that, as Mike drank more, he stopped prefacing his sentences with “According to their research” and “They say”. Now, he was just explaining the subject like he was an expert. Every question I asked had an immediate answer - he didn’t have to think about it or look up anything. I was already pretty sure that Levi remembered our past lives, and now it was looking more and more like Mike also remembered. 

I decided to just go for it. “Do you ever feel like maybe _you_ were reincarnated? Like, you have these memories and dreams, but they’re not from this time?”

He answered without hesitation, “Oh definitely. Nanaba, too.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at his girlfriend who was in the living room pretending not to listen to us.

“So, if I were to tell you that I remember an entire lifetime of mine from way, way in the past, you would believe me?”

He nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Even if, say, you and Nanaba and I were all friends back then, as well?”

There was a strange clarity in his eyes as he looked at me, almost like he’d never been drunk in the first place. “Do you remember?”

I hesitated for a few seconds and chewed on my bottom lip in thought. Now he was just outright asking. What would happen if I told him? Would he tell everyone else? Would he tell Levi? I couldn't let him do that, but I really needed an ally in this - someone experienced to help me through and answer my questions. With a deep, resigned sigh, I finally said, “Mostly. It’s still spotty in some places, but I remember most of my time in the military.”

I’d never seen Mike move as fast as he did jumping out of his chair at the table and lunging at me. Before I could even think to move away, he had me wrapped in a bear hug with my face buried in his chest. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. We’ve been waiting so long for you to remember.”

“You and Nanaba?” My question was muffled by his t-shirt.

He pushed me away enough so that he could look down at me. “Everyone at Survey. All the staff, Erwin, Hange, Levi.”

“How long were you guys waiting?” I asked.

“I got my memories back about five years ago,” he started explaining. “That’s the age when I died before, so I think maybe me continuing to live was my trigger.” He must have known that my next question was going to be in regards to the fact that he and I had known each other for seven years, because he continued without letting me speak, “I met Erwin about the same time I met you. He's the one who helped me when my memories came back. When you applied at Survey, I gave him a heads up because I knew he’d been looking for you."

“Looking for me?” I asked.

He nodded. “I can’t say much else. It’s considered bad etiquette to talk about someone else’s current life in context to their previous one. If you want more answers, you’ll have to ask him directly.”

That made sense to me. "So what do I do now?" I asked.

"I would just start telling everybody. Make an announcement at work tomorrow if you want. But…" he paused just long enough to point a finger at me for emphasis, "Talk to Levi first."

I groaned. "But he's married, Mike. That's going to make everything so awkward."

"Speaking of which," he said and pointed at the ring on my left hand, "What's the deal with that? I hope you didn't get married without inviting us to the wedding."

"No," I answered quietly as I played with the ring. "It's for Levi."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Like you're married to him?"

I nodded.

"Okay, seriously. You need to talk to him."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now I finally get to bump this up to Explicit

_“Has Kat talked to you yet?”  
“No… should I be expecting it?”  
“I hope so. I don’t want her to keep torturing herself over this.”  
“Torturing herself?”  
“You know I can’t tell you anything else.”  
“Tch.” _

****

I could tell that Mike had spilled the beans in some way. Over the next week, Levi took every chance he could to put the two of us in positions where we were alone. He was obviously trying to help me feel comfortable enough to talk to him. It was a valiant effort - too bad I’m a coward.

I was going to talk to him eventually. I was going to talk to everyone eventually, but first I needed to figure out exactly what I was going to say to Levi. I needed to think of the right way to explain to him that I didn’t expect him to leave his wife for me and that I wasn’t upset with him for getting married to someone else. If my life had gone just a little differently, I probably would’ve ended up marrying someone else, too. I liked to think we could at least be friends in this life, but I wasn’t sure if that would be fair to his wife or to me.

I made my final resolve to talk to him during inventory on Monday. No one else would be around, so we wouldn’t be interrupted by employees or customers. I had to do this. No question, no argument. I needed to tell him so that I could proceed to tell everyone else. I decided to wait until I finished my list. That way, if things got awkward, I could just leave.

I was standing around a corner, peaking over at Levi every few seconds and taking deep breaths to steel my nerves. I couldn’t explain why I was so nervous. 

“You just gonna stand there staring at me all day?” Levi asked with his back still turned to me.

I groaned and finally stepped around the corner. “I should’ve known I couldn’t hide from you.”

“Yeah, by now you think you would’ve learned that.” He set down his clipboard and turned to face me. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah,” I admitted with a sigh. “I’m just trying to figure out how to say it.”

“That’s easy, just spit it out. You look constipated.”

I sighed again and clenched my jaw. Here goes nothing. “I remember.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Everything. I remember everything. I started having these… dreams… a long time ago. Old timey houses, huge man-eating monstrosities, a shadow man with no face that I was completely smitten with. Never really thought anything of them until I started working here and met you and everyone else. Then at Erwin’s party, it all suddenly came together,” I explained. Before he could speak, I continued, “I just want you to know that I don’t expect you to or want you to leave your wife.”

“Kat,” he tried to interrupt me, but I ignored him.

“I’m sure you two are happy and I don’t want to ruin that.”

“Kat,” he tried again.

“I’m not mad or anything. It’s not like I can fault you for living a normal adult life.”

“Kat!”

I finally stopped rambling and looked off to the side. My ears felt hot with a blush.

“Erwin and I were roommates in college,” Levi started to explain. “I think that meeting him is what triggered my memories, since meeting him before changed my life so much.” He paused for a second to let out a small sigh. “I was actually engaged at the time, but after I got my memories back I broke up with her. She was understandably pissed, but I knew I’d never love her like I love you. I started wearing a wedding ring after that.”

I took a few moments to contemplate what he said before I looked back at him. “So, the ring is for me?”

“Yes.” He took a step toward me.

“That’s why you told me that your relationship with your wife was complicated."

"Yes." He took another step.

"Because it was me, but I didn’t remember, and I would think you were crazy if you told me I was your wife."

"That's right." One more step and now he was close enough to touch me if he wanted. "Are you wearing a ring for the same reason?"

Before I could even finish nodding, he had closed the distance and enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. "Fuck, sweetheart, I missed you so much. I'm so glad that you finally remember."

I couldn't stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. I grabbed two fistfuls of the back of Levi's t-shirt and buried my face in his neck. For my entire adult life, I thought all of my failed relationships were my fault because my standards were set too high. I was constantly comparing boyfriends to the shadow man in my dreams and ended perfectly good relationships because they just couldn't measure up. No one would ever be able to match how I felt about Levi.

"Can we go home?" I asked with a slight sniffle.

"Of course we can," he said as he loosened his hold on me just enough to look down at me.

As I started to stand up on my tiptoes, he simultaneously bent down and our lips met in the middle. More tears leaked from my eyes as I instantly felt exactly what I'd been looking for. I finally had him - the literal man of my dreams - and I was never going to fucking let him go. With a slight tilt our heads, our kiss deepened and our grips on each other tightened. Eventually we broke apart and I rested my forehead against his.

"Did you finish your list?" I asked.

"Fuck the list. Hange can do it. I need to get my wife home."

\----

We decided to just ride together in Levi's car to his house with the plan to come back to retrieve my car later that day or in the morning before work. My apartment was slightly closer than his house, but I knew my bachelorette pad would not meet his standards of cleanliness. 

"Do you miss it?" I asked as I watched the city pass by through the car window.

"Miss what?" Levi responded. His hand was settled comfortably on my thigh as he drove.

"Our old lives," I clarified.

"Tch. Fuck no."

"Why not?" I asked.

"My mom died when I was a kid, I was the constant butt of stupid short jokes, we lived in a cage surrounded by man eating monsters, and the food sucked," he explained. "But now my mom's still alive, we're all safe, and I've got a Roomba and a smartphone."

It was just then that I realized he was a head taller than me. In our past life we had been the same height. "I'm glad this life has treated you so much better. You deserve it."

"The only thing I ever missed about our old life was you," he admitted with a slight squeeze of my thigh. "But now you're here and you remember, and that makes this life complete."

"Almost complete," I said.

"Almost?" He asked.

I grinned and put my hand on top of his. "The only thing we're missing now is Hunter."

He grinned for just a second. "You're right. The only thing missing is our son."

The rest of the drive to his house was spent in comfortable silence. The neighborhood he lived in was gated and quiet. His townhouse was at the end of a cul-de-sac and seemed like fairly new construction.

We walked inside and paused momentarily in the foyer to take off our shoes. He hung his keys on a key hook next to the door before leading me deeper inside the house. “There’s not much to see,” he said as we walked around the first floor. “This is the living room, the kitchen is through there, there’s a half-bath built underneath the stairs. Upstairs it’s just bedrooms and another bathroom,” he explained as he vaguely pointed in the appropriate directions. “Are you hungry? I can make us some lunch.”

Before he could start rattling off ideas for lunch, I walked up, grabbed his shoulders, and dragged his lips down to mine. He seemed surprised for only a second before his arms snaked around my waist and his hands came to rest on my ass. 

When I pulled my head back half a minute later, his lips chased mine. “I don’t give a fuck about food right now,” I said quietly.

“Good, me neither,” he said just as quietly. His hands slipped down to the backs of my thighs and he lifted, pulling me up so that my legs wrapped around his hips. As I peppered his face and neck with kisses, he started carrying me upstairs.

“You work out?” I asked between kisses. He wasn’t straining at all to hold my weight.

“Yeah,” he answered. “My days are pretty much wake up, go to the gym, go to work, clean, go to bed.”

“That sounds boring,” I said.

“Tch.” He walked through the open door of his bedroom and kicked the door shut behind us.

“You don’t date or anything?” I asked, though I had a feeling I wouldn’t like the answer. I knew I had no right to be jealous, but I couldn’t help myself.

“No,” he said simply before dropping me onto his mattress. “I don’t do the casual sex thing very often, either, so I’m going to warn you now that I may not last very long this first time.”

“It’s okay,” I said as I watched him start peeling off his clothes down to his tight boxer briefs. His body was just as chiseled and lean and graceful as I remembered and my mouth watered a little. “I’ve been having wet dreams about you every night since I started at Survey, so I’m feeling pretty worked up, too.”

A quiet growl rolled in the back of his throat as he moved to start pulling off my clothes. I stopped his hands and he looked at my face with a cocked eyebrow.

“I’m not as fit as I was before,” I admitted quietly. “I understand if you don’t find me as attractive, but please keep it to yourself.”

His expression softened as he removed his hands from my clothes. With a soft sigh, he climbed into bed and nudged my legs apart so that he could lie between them. He balanced himself on one forearm next to my head while his free hand wandered underneath my shirt to feel along my torso. “Sweetheart I promise I will always find you attractive. It's your heart and your brain and your personality that I love the most. The fact that you're fucking sexy is just a bonus." As he spoke, his hand migrated upward from the waistband of my leggings to the top of the right cup of my bra grabbing and groping and feeling the whole way. 

Labored breathing was the only way I could manage to answer his sweet words. I pulled him down for another heated kiss as his hand slid around to my back and unhooked my bra. As soon as the garment was loose, I pushed up into a sitting position to pull my t-shirt and bra off. We took a few seconds to admire each other’s bare torsos before he pushed me back down and started trying to peel off my leggings.

After some struggling and impatient tugs, he spat out, "Are these fucking painted on?"

"Get used to 'em Baby. They're all I wear outside of work," I teased before helping him decipher how to remove the piece of clothing without destroying it. I pulled off my underwear with them and threw both items on the floor. "They make my ass look nice."

A hand on my hip and a light shove was my signal to roll over onto my stomach. He was sitting back on his heels behind me, so I spread my legs on either side of him and pushed my hips up slightly while keeping my face against the mattress. With a shuddering breath, one of his hands slid to my lower back and pushed down slightly to make my hips pop up higher while his other hand greedily kneaded my ass. “God you’re beautiful,” he groaned quietly and removed his hand that was on my back. 

I peeked over my shoulder at him and watched as he stuck two fingers in his mouth. When they were removed a few seconds later, they were glistening with saliva. In the next second, his slick fingers started rubbing up and down between my folds, splitting as they got to my clit to provide friction on either side of it instead of directly on it. He obviously remembered that my clit is normally too sensitive in the beginning for direct pressure, but I was already so worked up that the feather light touches were just frustrating me. I moaned and pushed back into his hands - brain not functioning in any meaningful capacity as all I could focus on was directing his fingers where I wanted them.

The bed dipped and bounced as he repositioned himself. His hands were on me again, this time on the top of the back of my thighs as he spread me open for his viewing pleasure. I’m sure he could see now just how wet I was. His breath was hot on my skin as he trailed open mouth kisses along my ass, then down to the tops of his hands, and then slowly inward, giving the occasional soft bite as he went.

"Levi, please stop teasing," I practically begged as I ground my hips back into his face.

"Sorry Sweetheart. Couldn't help myself," he said in a tone that wasn't entirely apologetic.

Before I could make a snappy retort, I finally felt his tongue make a single, slow, hot lick from the top of my folds all the way down to my entrance. I was expecting more licks to follow, but instead I felt hot pants gliding over my pussy as he rested his forehead against my butt. “Fuck I missed you so much,” he said in the sexiest voice I’d ever heard. I opened my mouth to say something like ‘I missed you too’ or maybe ‘show me how much you missed me’, but my voice got cut off by a moan as he dove in between my thighs like a man starved. I panted and cursed and moaned as I grabbed handfuls of his comforter and rocked my hips up and down against his tongue. The animalistic growl he let out in response to how excited I was nearly tipped me over the edge. 

He pulled away and I didn’t bother hiding my frustrated groan. Propping myself up on my hands and lowering my hips to the bed, I looked over my shoulder at him and said, “I was so close.”

He was shuffling around and getting off the bed. “I know, but I want to hear you moaning around my cock when you cum.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I watched with wide eyes as he finally removed his underwear and stood at the side of the bed, straining erection standing proud. “You still like getting face fucked?” He asked and all I could do was nod stupidly. “Good.” He grabbed my shoulders and gently rolled me onto my back. He took hold of my arms at the elbows and I grabbed onto his forearms so that he could easily drag me across the bed to him. With my head hanging slightly off the edge of the bed, I looked up at the underside of his cock and licked my lips in excitement and anticipation. 

Before he could reach down to grab himself, I took hold of his erection and put the tip in my mouth. I flattened my tongue and pressed hard as I swirled it once around his head and hallowed my cheeks. He immediately let out a deep groan and leaned forward to rest his forehead on my hip bone. Gradually I started bobbing my head up and down, slowly taking him further and further in. It wasn’t long before he had gathered his wits enough to start thrusting.

It took a few tries to get the right angle to prevent jaw discomfort, but soon enough he was thrusting deep into my mouth while simultaneously licking my clit. My hands fumbled around the backs of his thighs, his ass, his hips, and his sides as I did my best to anchor myself to reality. It felt like we were picking up right where we left off in our old lives. We didn’t need to rebuild trust or relearn each other’s bodies, we just instinctively knew and remembered. He knew exactly how deep and fast he could thrust to keep me from gagging and I knew exactly how to swivel and rock my hips to direct him to the right spot. 

My pants became shorter and harder as I started whining at how close I was. He moaned in response and moved his tongue in the same pattern on the same spot, but faster now. I did my best to remember to breathe as my brain turned into mush and I felt fire building in my entire body. With one final flick of his talented tongue, my nerves exploded and sent me careening over the cliff. He gripped onto my ass to keep my hips from thrashing too hard as I practically screamed around his cock still thrusting in and out of my mouth. Not entirely in control of my muscles, my nails dug deep into his waist just above his hip bones.

When my moans eventually subsided and my body relaxed, he stood up straight and pulled out of my mouth. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at him to see him grinning back at me. I smiled in response and let him help me sit up on the bed. As I recovered from lightheadedness, he moved onto the bed and repositioned me back onto my stomach. I always preferred him being dominant, and right now with my boneless body and blissed out brain I was happy to let him do whatever he pleased. He lifted my hips up a few inches and kept my legs pressed together as he put his knees on either side of my thighs. One hand gripping my ass kept my hips at the right angle as the other hand guided his erection into me. 

We both let out long groans as he pushed all the way in with no resistance. The hand that was on his cock moved to my waist and he started moving his hips. It was slow at first as he pushed in as deep as he could to test the waters. He was both long and thick and we’d had issues before with him hitting my cervix too hard and making me uncomfortable. Now, however, I was so wet and relaxed that he was able to slide all the way in with absolutely no complaints. Once he realized this, it didn’t take long for him to pick up the speed and force of his hips as he slammed into me.

I hadn’t been able to sing his praises when his cock was in my throat, so I made sure to pile it on now that my mouth was unoccupied. Loud moans, harsh pants, and words of utter praise and bliss filled the room along with the sounds of skin slapping against skin. Just like it didn’t take me long to reach my peak, it only took Levi a minute or two before his thrusts got uneven and sloppy. 

He barely managed to bark out a, “Fuck,” as he gave one last rough push to bury deep and release inside of me. 

I let out a sigh as he dropped down on top of me and rested his head on my arm that was laying next to my face. I slowly opened one eye and looked at him with a dopey grin on my face. He was looking back at me with a slight grin and soft eyes.

"Love you," he said quietly.

I leaned over and kissed him. "I love you too."

With an exaggerated groan, he pulled out of me and sat up. "Come on, time to shower."

I let out my own exaggerated groan and buried my face in the comforter.

"Oi," he barked and slapped my ass. I gasped in surprise and looked back at him. "Let's go, I don't want cum all over my sheets."

"Then you shouldn't have cum inside me!" I argued, but despite my protests I stood up and followed him into his bathroom.

"How else are we supposed to have Hunter?" He asked.

My annoyance at having to get up from the comfortable bed immediately melted away at the mention of our son. I smiled and wrapped my arms around Levi's waist from behind as he turned on the shower. I planted a kiss between his shoulder blades and let out a happy sigh.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few more hours of reminiscing, Levi and I decided to go visit his mom, Kuchel. She died long before I ever got a chance to meet her before, so Levi wanted to make sure that we met this time. Kuchel also remembered her short life before - the assumption was that, like Mike, her memories were triggered when she didn’t die at the same age - and she loved hearing the stories I told about Levi as ‘Humanity’s Strongest’. She explained to me that Levi refused to tell her the stories himself because he was “a sourpuss”, so she and I had a good laugh about how angry and unapproachable her son was. And still is. We then proceeded to stay up way too late into the night talking about anything and everything we could think of.

It didn’t help that Kuchel and I had the same taste in wine and she had lots of bottles to share with me. Levi behaved himself all night and just sat quietly in a chair glaring at us with an annoyed look on his face. I could tell that, despite how miffed he pretended to be, he was happy to see me and his mom hitting it off so well. I know I was overjoyed when Levi and my dad had become sort-of friends in our past lives. I momentarily wondered if my parents remembered our old lives, but I pushed that thought to the side and focused on Kuchel - I could worry about my parents later.

Levi carried me out of the house around three in the morning. I guess he finally had enough and decided it was time for Kuchel and I to sober up and get some sleep.

“Next time you visit I”ll break out the baby pictures!” Kuchel yelled after us as Levi was setting me in the passenger seat of his car. “I’ve got some good ones of his emo phase in middle school, too!”

She and I both started cackling like drunken white women as Levi clicked his tongue and shut the car door in my face. 

\----

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Levi’s voice as he spoke on the phone. “Kat and I aren’t coming in tonight… she drank way too much with my mom last night… yes that means what you think it means…” a squeal pierced through the phone’s speaker so loud that Levi had to yank it away from his ear, giving it a dark glare as he did so. “Shitty Glasses, shut the fuck up. We’ll be back to work tomorrow.” He hung up before she could say anything else, though I doubt that stopped her from babbling into the phone on her end.

“Think she’ll keep her mouth shut until we get to work tomorrow?” I mumbled from my cocoon under the covers. My eyes and the top of my head were the only thing visible on my body.

“Doubt it,” he said. “Sorry I woke you up.” He walked over and sat next to me on my side of the bed.

“It’s okay. I’m hungry anyway,” I answered and forced myself into a sitting position. 

He ran his hand through my greasy hair and kissed my forehead. “I didn’t say anything last night, but you probably shouldn’t drink like that again in case you’re pregnant.”

I hadn’t even thought about that when I’d accepted glass after glass of wine from Kuchel. I leaned my forehead on his shoulder and grinned. “Wouldn’t it be great if I was pregnant already?”

“Yeah, and we’re young enough still that we could even try for a second kid if we wanted.”

He was right. I’d been 35 and him almost 40 when we had Hunter before, but now we were still both in our late 20s - prime baby-making age. Plus this world was much safer than the last one, so it wouldn’t seem as unfair to bring more children into it. Hunter always used to ask Levi and me if he could have a little brother or sister. “I like the sound of that, but we’ll need a bigger house,” I said as I got out of bed and walked toward his bathroom. I badly needed a shower.

“One thing at a time, Sweetheart,” he said as he also stood up from the bed. “First things first, you need breakfast so that you don’t feel so hungover. Then we need to get a new marriage certificate. We can pick up your car while we’re out and you can get some clothes from your place.”

“Is that why you called Hange and told her we weren’t coming in to work tonight?” I asked as I took off the clothes I’d borrowed to sleep in.

“Yes. I’d rather us take the whole week off so that you can get fully moved in, but I think that place might fall apart with both of us gone that long without warning,” he said from the bathroom doorway as he watched me undress.

I smiled at him, knowing that he didn’t necessarily think that was true. Just like before, he held a lot of respect and trust in the people we worked with, even if he liked to pretend that they were incompetent idiots. I stepped into the shower.

“How are you planning on telling your parents about me?” Levi asked.

“I haven’t exactly decided yet. I texted Mom and said I wanted to have dinner so that they could meet someone. She said she’s excited to meet whoever it is and sent a winky face so I think she has an idea of _why_ I have someone for them to meet,” I answered.

He sighed. “I hope they like me now as much as they liked me before.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Love. Even if they don’t like you at first, they’ll come around when they see how wonderful of a husband and father you are,” I said in my best effort to reassure him. If my parents remembered our old lives, then I had no doubt that they would be ecstatic to see Levi again. 

The edge of the shower curtain was pushed to the side and I was met with Levi staring at me. “You keep saying nice things like that and I’m going to love you forever.”

“Oh no, anything but that,” I said with a smile on my face as I leaned over to give him a kiss. 

He reached out and gave my boob a quick squeeze before he left the bathroom to make us breakfast.

\----

(16 years later)

“Napkins, no! Bad dog!” Hunter yelled at our black lab who was currently playing keep-away with Hunter’s work uniform.

“Tell him to drop it, Hunter,” I called from the kitchen. 

“Drop it… drop it!” I heard him whine. “Come on dude, you’re gonna make me late for my first day!”

I sighed and looked over at Holly who was standing next to me. The poor girl was so short that, even at 11 years old, she needed a step stool to properly use a lot of stuff in the kitchen. She was stirring cupcake batter and I was glad that Levi wasn’t home because he probably would’ve had a heart attack at the mess Holly and I made. Cake mix had gotten into cracks that I didn’t even know existed in our kitchen. “I’ll be right back,” I said to her before stepping away. 

“Okay Mom,” she said back and kept stirring.

I walked down the hall to Hunter’s room and leaned in the doorway to assess the situation. His room was very typical of a 15-year-old boy - messy with posters all over the walls. A pile of dirty laundry sat on the floor next to a pile of clean laundry and a few soda cans were scattered over his nightstand and desk. Napkins was nowhere in sight - he must have snuck off down the hall into Holly’s room.

Hunter was sitting on the edge of his bed looking down at the uniform in his hands which was wrinkled and covered in dog slobber. He looked up at me, nearly in tears as he said, “Mr. Smith is going to be so mad at me.”

“You’ll be fine,” I reassured him as I walked over and sat next to him on the bed. “We’ve got extra uniforms stashed all over the place. Servers get stuff spilled on them all the time so we always keep extras in case someone needs to change,” I explained. “Dad will get one for you when you guys get there.”

Erwin had hired Hunter as the new dishwasher at Survey and tonight was his first night. When Hunter was born, Levi and I worked out a schedule with Erwin and Hange so that one of us was always home. Tonight was my night off and Holly and I were spending it making cupcakes for a school bake sale the next day. She would have been better off getting Levi’s help with it, but she’d forgotten to tell us about it until earlier in the day so she was stuck with my mediocre baking skills.

Hunter sighed and tossed his uniform onto the dirty pile of laundry on the floor. “I wanted to make a good impression tonight, though. Everyone’s already going to think I only got the job because of you and Dad and I wanted to show them I’m not a useless bastard.”

“Language,” I warned. After he mumbled a ‘sorry’, I continued speaking, “No one’s perfect, Hunter. And no matter what you do, you’re never going to make everyone happy - there’s always going to be someone out there who doesn’t like you for some reason. You just do what you know is right and try not to worry about what everyone else thinks of you.”

He sighed once again and flopped back on his bed. I knew he was nervous about his first day, but he was a good kid and a hard worker so he would do just fine. Besides, Levi wasn’t going to let anyone bully or talk down to his son. 

"I'll try," he finally relented and sat up again. With the unhappy pout on his face, I was struck at how much he looked like Levi. I couldn't help but smile and pull him into a sideways hug. I remembered having almost this exact conversation with him when he joined the Scouts in our old life. He'd been worried that people would only focus on his last name and not him as a person, but he eventually proved to be an incredible soldier. 

The front door opened and I heard Holly say, "Hi Dad," from the kitchen.

Levi greeted her in kind and set down a few bags on the kitchen counter. There was a pause before he said, "You overstirred your batter. Also you destroyed the kitchen."

Holly groaned. 

I gave Hunter an encouraging pat on the shoulder before I got up and left his room. "You should get your stuff together. I'm sure Dad will be ready to go soon." I walked into the kitchen where Levi and Holly were remaking the batter.

"Then we add baking soda as a leavening agent," he was explaining as he helped her measure out ingredients. "It keeps the cake light and fluffy."

I walked over and put my hand on Levi's shoulder to pull him in for a quick kiss. "Was my boxed cake mix that bad?" I asked with a teasing grin.

"No but it got all gummy so we're making it from scratch," he said.

"I overstirred it. Sorry Mom," Holly said as she cracked some eggs into the bowl.

"It's not your fault, Honey. I didn't realize that was possible so I didn't warn you," I answered with a smile as I ran my fingers through her hair. "We can still bake the first cupcake mix and keep it just for us." 

Hunter came walking down the hall with Napkins running behind him. The dog walked up and nudged his nose against Levi's hand. Levi clicked his tongue and said something about a stupid dog, but he pet Napkins' head regardless. He liked to put on a front that the dog annoyed him, but I'd caught him numerous times sitting on the couch giving Napkins lots of pets while the dog was draped across his lap.

Once the cupcakes were finally in the oven, Holly took the kitchen timer back to her room and I followed Levi to ours. I shut the door behind me as I walked in.

"I don't have time for fooling around, Sweetheart," he said from our closet as he pulled off his t-shirt.

"That's fine, I just wanna grope you a little." I walked up behind him and reached around so that I could run my hands all over his chest and stomach. He still went to the gym almost everyday and it showed. I let out a hum as my hand moved across his ribs to his back. As I rubbed his shoulders, I asked, "How did I get so lucky to have such a sexy husband?"

"You trying to butter me up?" He asked as he did his best to get redressed in his work clothes with my hands all over him.

"Can't I just admire my handsome husband and count myself lucky that I get to spend two lifetimes with him?"

He spun in my arms to face me and pulled me into a hug. "I love you so much. I hope we get more lifetimes together."

I smiled and nuzzled into his neck. "Me too, Love."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I normally like to do with my stories is write them start to finish, let them sit in my Google Docs for a few months so that I can reread and edit them, and then post them. However, this time for some reason I started posting this story before I had it finished - it's not something I'll do again.
> 
> Anyway, that's why this final chapter is a day late and maybe not as comprehensive and descriptive as previous chapters. I may come back in the future and repost it if I decide it needs a lot of editing.
> 
> I have two really long AU fics I'm currently working on that are only about halfway finished, so in the meantime I plan on continuing to post these shorter fics. If you enjoyed this story, feel free to check out the rest of my works!


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